South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has determined 25 preferred bidders for just under 2600MW of renewable energy capacity in the country’s fifth clean power sale.
The fifth bid window under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme will allocate about 1.6GW of onshore wind and 1GW of solar power.
The weighted average bid price for the round is pegged at R473.94 (€26.60) a megawatt-hour.
R2.7bn will be committed over the 20-year operational lifespan of the projects.
The sixth bid window is planned for January next year.
South African Wind Energy Association chair Mercia Grimbeek said: “This is a huge step towards rolling procurement, which is what the country and wind power sector needs, in order for renewables to be able to deliver adequate energy to the country and help shift the economy onto a positive trajectory.”
Mainstream Renewable Powers said that 12 of its projects won preferred bidder status totalling 1.27GW.
The Mainstream-led consortium, named Ikamva, will deliver six onshore wind projects and six solar PV facilities, including the first REIPPPP project in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province.
Mainstream general manager for Africa Hein Reyneke said: “We are delighted to be chosen to contribute further to the decarbonisation of South Africa.
“It is a demonstration of faith in Mainstream’s track record of efficient and reliable delivery not only here in South Africa but also internationally, where we are currently building 10 wind and solar PV projects simultaneously, totalling 1.35 GW in Chile.
“Our latest win will deliver enormous social, economic and environmental benefits for South Africa.”
Norwegian company Scatec said it won preferred bidder status on three solar projects totalling 273MW.